Rolling-mill manipulator.



Patented May 23, 1916.

4 SHEET-8-SHEH l. v

: J. HUGHES.

, noume MILL MA'NIPULA'TOR- APPLICATION FILED .IULY H), 19I3. Patented May 23, 1916.

L HUGHES. ROLLING MILL MANI'PULATOR. APPLICATION FILED JULY 10, 1913- I Patented Mil 23,1916,

4 SHEETS SHEET 3-- T; min.

J, HUGHES. ROLLING MILL MAN'IPULATORF APPLICATION FILED JULY 10, m3.

Patented May 23, 1916 4-SHEETSSHEET 4.

Rolling-Mill Manipulators, of which the.

JOHNSON HUGHES, or PHILADELPHIA, rE NsYLvANIA.-

ROLLING-Mann MANIPULA'roR.

Specification ofLetters Patent.

Patented Ma y 23, 1916 Application filed July ,10, 1913. Serial lfTo. 778,295.

To an whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHNSON Hnon'ns,

' a citizen of the United'States, residing-at Philadelphia, in the county' of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in following is a specification.

My invention relates to an apparatus es pecially adapted to manipulate, i. e. to n We, turn and straighten the'hot ingots, billets or slabs before they enter into certain passes of the reducing rolls of a blooming or roll+ ing mill, and to shift them from one passto another of the rolls. y

In designing my improved manipulator and which now is in. practical use, I have succeeded in overcoming the general diffi-. culties and have provided an apparatus Which is prompt in action, capable of turninga long or short ingot located. at any point on the roller bed, within reachaof the- 'manipulator, and by'which ingots, .billets or slabsmay be turned which are not entirely straight; that is, such metal which'has become bent or curv'ed during the rolling operations. The apparatus further is capable of straightening the billet or slab before entering another pass of the rolls, and

its actions intper forming theseduties arei prompt and decislve and yet flexlble, 2'. e.,".

' '-the operating parts do not come into "COD-"f w tact with the metal being rolled with a hardiblow, but engage the same gradually, there .bysaving repair expense, loss of mill due to such repairs, etc.

" My improved manipulator consists'prin-i- I jcipally of a tilting cheek plate movablev 4 y *from one'side of a'roller bed to'the*'othe1(--i to move from the other side of-the roller bed toward and beyond the center of the roller a vertically disposed "cheek plate adapte lbed,-,"and of mechanism and'apparatus .for-

" derstood' by refere e-s-.to thez1accoi ipanymg;

gamovinglthe; said cheek plates. .for the pur and apparatus are located'above-the rolljpit" sci-that easy-aocess isf had toieverypart thereof if repairs become necessary" poses above stated, All of the mechani'sm-- My invention will .be in drawings, wherein,"

7' Figures iphced-side" veyer equippedwith ymv slab or other sectionfitting these rails are journaled'in the said brackets 15, .which can; the. bed-plate 16', in its movement lateral y across-the rollerbed 011' the drawings the heek plate"- :ji is shown-in full lines in" aninclined-;-pos1- tion ("m the line sea Fig: 1;] Fig.- i is an end elevation of theconstruction shown in K be seenthat .I provide: a roller, bed immediately. in front of rolls" 1'0. The roller bed consists'of rolls-1 1',- supporting the ingot,

billet, slab oij' other-pi eceofghot metal'and adapted to move the, sametoy'ard or away;

from the reducing rolls 10. ;These rolls'contain a number ofpasses', and the object of the manipulatoris-fto turnfiand shift the metal from one pass; to lanothenyas may be section of an ingot to" formthe' b'l'oom,jbillet,

is rolled. For this purp required-in the process of reducing the cross 7'5 memes metal a tilting. cheek 5 plate 12 is arranged on one sfi 'de' offl the roller bed and *a vertical eheekjplate.,j1'3' on the other-side-of the bed;{iTliejfconstruction and so-' operation ofthe' tilting -cheek;- plate;1 2 fis= the, 7 I most important-.asr-itprincipally serves to turn the-billetanditsgodiitz qotionwill now be described; "The-lower:e e-oa hs cheek-,

plate extends belowitlrieitop titherollers 11,- and-is provided, with hing ,ing the lower edgegtobrackets-secured. to a,

bed plate. 16." Below eachbracket15, and

'alpp'orted on the roller bed foundation, are

shaped guiderails 17,;and grooved wheels ti-on and in dotted lines-in its'vrtical posito move or straighten apartly rolled ingot or billet',rfwhile the inclined-position isespe 'cia-lly adapted-to tilt or turn themetal rest ing onthe roller bed, 1"

To-ch'a'nge the POSltIOII of the cheek plate 12, ifrom; its inclinedto its vertica-lzposi'tion,

" a'toggle joint, comprising the lever a-r'm 1 8, fastened to the shaft 1-9','and the lmk 20, 1s

locatedaboveeachrail '17. The shaft 19 is j gear"22, on the square shaft tlii, and

tion, "which 1atter'it 'rnust attain in "order;

as the bed plate 16 moves across the width a of the roller bed and receives an oscillatingv motion from the arms 26, keyed to each end" of the bushing 24. The arms 26, are connected by rods 27, to a crosshead 28, attached to the plunger 29. The ends of the plunger 29 extend into theopposed hydraulic cylinders 30 and 31, so that when fluid pressure is admitted to the cylinder 30, the plunger 29 through the cross head 28 and rods 27 rocks the arms 26 (in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 5) to turn the square shaft 23. This movement of the shaft 23 causes the bevel gears 22 and 21 to turn the rock shaft 19 and through the toggles, to swing the pivoted cheek plate 12 from itsinclined to its vertical position (indicated by dotted lines in F ig. 3). By admitting fluid pressure to the cylinder 31, the plunger 29 is moved-from left to right (see Fig. 5) to move the cheek plate 12 from its vertical into its inclined position. .The cylinders 30 and 31 are con nected by suitable piping through afour way valve to a source of fluid pressure supply.

On top ofthe hydraulic cylinders 30 and 31, are mounted the spring-controlled bumpers 32, the rods of which contact with a projection 33, on the cross head 28, in its forward andbackward movement, and. serve to cushion the hard blows due to the operation of the hydraulic plunger in the cylinders 30 and 31.

1,1sa,eso v maintain at all times a parallel movement a outer end of each plunger 40 is a rack 41 which is guided in a bracket 42 and meshes with one of the gear wheels 43 keyed or otherwise'fastened on the shaft 36. The radius of these wheels 43, being very much smaller than the length of the rocking arms 37, the necessary stroke of the rams in the cylinders 39, is very much shorter. To cushion the hard blows on the return movement of the cheek plate, spring controlled bumpers 44, are preferably mounted on the cylinders 34, and the bed plate 16, contacts with the same in bringing the bed plate to rest on its quick return or backward movement. In the movement of theplate laterally across the roller bed,,the square shaft 23 slides within the bushing 24, while imparting motion to the tilting mechanism, and both of these movements may be obtained at the same time by opening the valves on the piping leading to the hydraulic cylinders 30 and 34.

The. cheek plate 13 is of the same length as the tilting cheek plate 12, but its face maintains at all times a vertical position and a at its lower edge is provided with a ledge Tomove the bed plate with the cheek plate toward and beyond, the center line of the roller bed and to push an ingot of short length located at any point within reach of the cheek plate requires mechanism which will insure the movement of the cheek plate to be at all times and points parallel with the center line of the roller bed, and these movementsfrom the initial position at the side of .the roller bed toward and beyond .the

center line thereof are attained by the following means.

Hydraulic cylinders 34 are fixed on suitable bases which are anchored to foundations, and the plungers 35, are secured'at their outer ends to the bed plate 16. The cylinders 34 are connected to the same pressure pipe which is controlled by one valve (not shown) sothat the two plungers move in unison and move the bed plate 16 laterally toward thecenter of the roller bed. To

45. This ledge or projection 45 facilitates.

the turning movement of the ingots, slabs, or other shapes when being rolled by pre: venting any tendency of the shape to rise or shaft 36, is

carry upward and to jump from the rollers 11 under the action of the cheek plates 12 and 13 on the shape during the turning movements thereof.

Lugs having V-shaped grooves are formed shaped rails 17, before described. The devices for accomplishing this moving back and forth across the bed are the same as for the cheek plate 12, and comprise the hythe shaft 47 and meshing with the racks.

The operation of my manipulator may be described as follows: After an ingot is brought onto the roller bed, it is shifted laterally across the rollers 11, by-either of the cheek plates 12 or 13,,depending upon the position the ingot occupies on the roller bed with regard to anyone of the passes in the rolls and through which theingot is to pass. If the i'ngot occupies a slanting position in regard v.t'o theaxis of the roller bed, either one or both of the cheeks may be actuated to bring the ingot in alinement with the bed and the particular pass in the-rolls the ingot should enter. If the cheek plate 12 is' used only for these side shiftings, it occupies a vertical position as shown in the A dotted lines in Fig. 3, but if it 'is necessary 15 inclined position and engages the lower ad.-

toturn the ingot or bloom, it occupies the jacent edge of the ingot, and by continuing the side movement of the cheek 12, the ingot will be tilted, and to complete the turning of the ingot the cheek plate 12 will be brought from the inclined position ,into any position intermediate its initial inclined-and the vertical position. In this way rectangli-r la-r slabs, which with the former devices were very diiiic'ult to turn, can very easily be manipulated, i. 6., turned, etc., by using both cheeks l2 and '13, the latter with its ledge forming a stop so that the former can engagethe slaband turn the same, if

- the slab is curved due to the rolling process,

etc; Both of the cheeks 12 and 13, having I the slab between them, are advanced toward each other and press the same in order to straighten the said slab.

It will be understood by those skilled in the'a-rt to which my'invention relates that modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims'without departing from the spirit of the invention. A cheek plate like the cheek plate 12 may be used in place of the cheek plate 13 when desired and other changes may be made.-

I claim:

- 1. In a rolling mill, the combination with a. roller feed table on which metal being rolled is delivered to the reducing rolls, of a manipulatorfor moving and turning the metal laterally on said feed table, said manipulator comprising a.tilting cheek-plate extending lengthwise parallel --with the length of the feed table, means for moving the cheek-plate laterally across the width of the feed table, in ositioning metal on the feed table, and'in ependent means for tilting the cheek plate in turning metal supa manipulator" for moving and turning the metal "laterally on said feed table, said manipulator comprising a tilting cheekplate extending lengthwise parallel with the lengthof the feed table, means for moving the cheek-plate laterally across the width of the feed table, in positioning metal on the feed table, and lndependent means for tilting the cheek-plate in turning metal sup ported on the feed table, said independent means comprising a fluid pressure cylinder,

a rockshaft operatively connected to said cylinder, a toggle connecting the rock shaftv and tilting cheek-plate and independent means for moving the cheek-plate in a back-v ward direction.

F JOHNSON HUGHES. Witnesses:

Pnnon G. INGRAHAM, THos B. OGDEN.

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